Money Diary: An Unemployed 23-Year-Old Living In Gloucestershire

This week: "I’m a 23-year-old graduate who is currently unemployed due to the coronavirus pandemic. After graduating last summer, I did an internship in Shanghai and then moved home and got a job as a waitress in a fancy hotel. The hours were crazy but I got paid a bomb and made some great friends, and I saved up most of my money to go travelling with a uni friend in Australia and New Zealand. So I quit my job and flew out on 28th February. Three weeks later, thanks to COVID I was back with no job, my savings depleted/tied up in credit I doubt I’ll be able to use, no furlough, no plans and no future. I picked up some freelance transcribing which I used to do, which brings in a tiny bit of money but not enough.

However I’m in an extremely fortunate position in that I don’t really have any outgoings at the moment. Pre-corona, I was genuinely a good spender – I rarely buy clothes/technology but I’m way too guilty of spending excessive money on food and drink, and with regular trips to see friends in London/my uni town, I was probably spending more than I should have been. My savings pattern tends to revolve around saving money for a specific event, e.g. travelling, depleting said savings and starting again from £0 but I’m hoping once I’m in a stable job, I can save a bit better."

Occupation: Unemployed / freelance transcriber
Industry: None / freelance
Age: 23
Location: The Cotswolds, Gloucestershire
Salary: Pre-corona, roughly £19k. Now, probably around £2k.
Debt: £50k roughly student loan (lol) and no credit cards/overdraft.
Paycheque amount: Anything between £0 and £350 for transcribing depending on the amount of work available.

Housing costs: Zero. I live with my mum and sister, who is back from her final year at uni. Pre-corona, I paid Mum £150 a month in rent to help with the increase in council tax now I'm home and household expenditure but luckily she agreed to let me just pay for food etc. on an ad hoc basis until I move out/get a more stable income.
Savings: I have approximately £1,000 in a Halifax ISA left over from travelling. Most of my savings were drained trying to get home once the pandemic got serious, and as we'd booked most of our flights and activities, I have approx £800 tied up in credit with STA. I also have £180 in an easy access savings pot in my Monzo account which rounds up all my spending to the nearest pound and saves the difference, which has been incredible!
Loan payments: £0
All other monthly expenses: My car and insurance are luckily covered by my dad, who owns a car dealership, so both are just done through the garage. I know how lucky I am because there is no way I could have ever afforded to keep a car otherwise. My phone is also on the garage plan and even though I have offered to contribute multiple times, it hasn't happened yet. Transport costs have been minimal at the moment as I have hardly gone anywhere during lockdown. I pay £9.99 for Spotify (sadly lost my student discount last month), £5.99 for Netflix, £0.99 for iCloud storage and £9.99 for a Shreddy fitness app subscription.